School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up--In 1935, two unlikely tweens are connected across the Atlantic as assigned--albeit initially unwilling--pen pals. Made to write a full page to Charlie after dismissing her because she's a girl, Alex soon succumbs to her epistolary charms; their letters continue for years. As World War II arrives, landing Washington-born Japanese-American Alex in Manzanar and forcing Jewish Parisian-born Charlie to run for her life, their communications become more desperate. When Alex realizes that military enlistment could reunite his family and provide the slimmest opportunity to find Charlie, he heads to the front to serve the country that stripped him of his civil rights. From petulant child to war hero, Greg Chun embodies Alex with impressive precision; he's equally convincing as Alex's angry older brother, their desperate mother, and members of his 442nd battalion. Emily Ellet, unfortunately, is the weaker link, the ebullient Charlie dampened by a hyperbolic French accent beset with Valley Girl twang. Fukuda's illuminating author's note, which underscores critical history, is sorely missed here. VERDICT Despite missteps, with Chun adroitly controlling the bulk of the narration, this aural adaptation is a welcome option for all curious listeners.--Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC
Publisher's Weekly Review
When Alex Maki of Bainbridge Island, Wash., and Charlie Lévy of Paris, France, are assigned to be pen pals in 1935, Alex is initially disappointed to learn that Charlie is a girl, and neither expects to still be writing in 1941. As they've grown closer, the world has darkened: in Paris, discrimination against Charlie's Jewish family gets worse; after Pearl Harbor, Alex's Japanese-American family is interned far from their home. In an author's note, Fukuda (the Hunt Trilogy) says that he was inspired to write the novel after learning that Anne Frank had an American pen pal and that a subcamp of Dachau was liberated by an all-Japanese-American battalion. Drawing on these facts, the author creates a compelling juxtaposition in Charlie's and Alex's situations. Letters between the two (and Alex's drawings) mix with a third-person account of Alex's time at the Manzanar internment camp and fighting in Europe with the segregated 442nd Regiment. Blending realistic details of life in battle and occupied Paris with Alex's desperation-fueled visions of Charlie, the book offers a believable hero in shy but determined Alex and introduces new chapters into history that readers may think they know. Ages 13--up. (Jan.)